‘Patrick, would you do something for me? Go to my room and put any notebooks and papers you can find into a carrier bag. I think there’s a couple of files and several spiral-bound notebooks, and maybe some loose — yes, there’s a wad of loose typewritten reports in one of the drawers of the desk. If you could put them all in a bag and hide it somewhere till I get back — under your bed or something.’
‘Jeez! All right, good as done.’
Kathy put the receiver down and sat staring at the bench top.
‘Problems?’ Brock asked quietly.
‘Tanner’s been round to my place and tried to talk his way into my room.’
‘What’s he after?’
Kathy shrugged. ‘All I can think of are my notes on the Petrou case. That’s about all he’d be interested in.’
Brock grunted. ‘Anything else?’
‘Penny Elliot rang.’
‘Sounds as if it would be a good idea to talk to her. We really need to know what’s been going on. You’d better not tell her where you are, though.’
Kathy agreed and dialled the number of Division, asking to be put through to Detective Sergeant Elliot. ‘Penny, it’s Kathy. I’m not coming back to Crowbridge just yet, but I heard you’d been trying to reach me.’
‘Yes, yes. Are you all right? You got me worried disappearing like that. I thought you might have fallen under a bus.’
‘I just needed to get away for a few days. What’s been happening?’
‘Hang on a minute.’
Kathy heard some murmuring and sounds of movement, then Penny came back, whispering so low and fast that Kathy had to press her ear to the receiver to pick out the words. ‘Tanner and his boys have been trying to find you! Didn’t you know? They had a go at me for a while, thought I should know where you were. They said they just wanted to talk to you. I’ve got the impression that the Rose Duggan case has bogged down. Have you been reading the papers?’
‘No.’
‘Well, her boy-friend is still under arrest, but the lads on the second floor don’t seem very happy. I believe he hasn’t confessed yet. The wife of the Director of the clinic has been here a few times creating a scene, apparently. I don’t know the background, but I’m told she had the front desk in uproar the other day until the Deputy Chief Constable agreed to see her.’
‘Is there some suggestion she’s related to the boy-friend, do you know, Penny?’
‘No idea, sorry. What’s going on, anyway, Kathy? Shouldn’t you be back here?’
Kathy hesitated. ‘I think they may have got it all wrong, Penny. But I don’t have anything concrete to offer. Do you think Tanner was looking for my help?’
Now it was Penny who hesitated. ‘To be honest, Kathy, when he came at me I felt like the woman who runs the refuge in town, when the men come battering on the door looking for their runaway wives. He didn’t strike me as a man who wanted some friendly advice from a colleague. Why does he hate you so much?’
‘I don’t know, Penny, I really don’t.’ She sighed. ‘I just wish I could get a clearer idea about what’s going on.’
‘I’ll try to do what I can and ask around. But the risk is it’ll get back to him straight away.’
‘What about files? Can you get access to them in the normal course of things?’
‘You’re joking! Past Medusa?’
Kathy remembered the formidable woman clerk who guarded the CID file room. ‘Oh yes, of course.’
‘Probably the best way is through the clerical staff. Keep well clear of the investigating officers.’
‘Mmm.’ Kathy sounded doubtful. ‘I don’t want to get anyone else into trouble over this, Penny. Especially you. Have you heard any more about Gordon Dowling?’
‘Not a thing.’
‘How about Belle Mansfield?’
‘She cleared her desk a week ago. I’ve got her home number if you want it.’
‘Yes, OK.’ Kathy wrote down the number Penny dictated, thanked her and rang off.
‘Apparently my aunt in Sheffield has been trying to get hold of me, Brock. I’d better ring and make sure she’s all right.’
She dialled and heard her aunt’s voice answer tentatively, ‘Yes?’
‘It’s me, Aunt Mary — Kathy. How are you?’
‘Oh, Kathy! Have you been away, dear?’
‘Yes, for a few days. I got your message. Are you all right?’
‘Oh, I’m fine. Your Uncle Tom’s had a bad cough this past week, though.’
Uncle Tom’s cough and its remedies took a few minutes, then, ‘No, I just wanted to make sure your friend had been able to get in touch with you.’
‘Friend?’
‘Yes. He phoned here yesterday. Was it yesterday? No, I tell a lie. It must have been Monday, because Effie was here at the time. A nice man, he sounded like.’ Aunt Mary’s judgement was cautious, which Kathy knew meant she really wasn’t too sure. ‘He sounded ever so keen to see you again. Is he an admirer, dear? He seemed to think you were staying with us for a holiday. I don’t know how he could have got that idea, it’s been such a long time since we saw you. The way he was talking, I think he’d have got in his car and come straight down to Sheffield there and then if I’d given him any hope of seeing you.’
‘Down?’ Kathy repeated. ‘You said he’d have come down to Sheffield?’
‘Aye, well, he was a Geordie, wasn’t he? From Newcastle, I’d say. Don’t you know him, then, dear?’
Kathy brought the call to an end as soon she could and told Brock this new discovery.
‘Persistent, isn’t he,’ Brock said. ‘I wonder if he’s been here too.’
Kathy dialled Belle Mansfield’s home number next. She sounded philosophical about what had happened.
‘I was ready for a change anyway, Kathy. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Belle, I don’t know what to say. I feel terrible, getting you involved.’
‘I knew that what we were doing was out of line, Kathy. I guess I just didn’t expect the boys to be quite so smart.’
‘How did they get on to you?’
‘You remember I told you the clinic’s computer might record the numbers of incoming connections? Well, it did — Tanner was able to trace a call from our hotel that night I tried to break into the computer. And while we were at the hotel we used a credit card. I guess that was stupid, but it’s all very well being Mr and Mrs Smith until you want to pay for something. We never carry much cash around.’
‘All the same, it was pretty clever of Tanner to put all that together.’
‘Yeah. And so quickly. He’s a tough customer, Kathy. You should be careful where he’s concerned.’
‘I know that, Belle. Was he rough on you?’
‘Oh, not really. He just came straight to the point once he’d worked out what I’d done. I had a choice, he said. I could stay and fight, face disciplinary action, then the sack and probably prison, and my husband would probably lose his job at IBM too, given how sensitive they would be to this kind of crime in the family. Alternatively, I could sign a statement and resign gracefully, without retribution. I’m sorry, Kathy, I had to sign.’
‘Of course you did.’ Kathy felt her throat constrict as if a noose were being tightened around it. ‘What did it say?’
‘Oh, just about everything. What I did, whose idea it was, your friend’s offer to pay for the room. Everything.’
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Kathy’s hand was aching from gripping the receiver so tightly.
‘I’m sorry, Kathy,’ Belle repeated at last.
Kathy took a deep breath. ‘There was nothing else you could do, Belle. I had to sign something similar. It doesn’t matter.’
‘Yeah, well, good luck.’
‘What I really need is information. I feel as if I’m blind.’ ‘What kind of information?’
‘About Rose Duggan’s murder. What evidence they have against the man they’ve arrested, what statements other people have made, things like that. I’d hoped that Penny Elliot could have found out something for me, but they’re keeping everything on the second floor locked up very tight. She doesn’t know much more than is in the newspapers.’